


Third Floor

by rosalynbair



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, The Force Awakens - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Boss/Employee Relationship, F/M, The Office, The Office AU, Workplace Relationship, Workplace Sex, domestic as hell, kylo sexts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 04:22:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14825162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosalynbair/pseuds/rosalynbair
Summary: Kylo is your manager at First Order Paper Co. And you like him. A lot. But relationships in the office are forbidden, so, what can you do?





	1. The Office

Mornings are horrible as an adult. Getting up early and making sure you look professional enough to go out in public and get to work, trying to remember to eat something while also making a mental list of everything that needed to get done that day. Dealing with traffic and raising gas prices, being on time for every single thing and planning for things that probably won’t even happen. 

Kylo Ren hated mornings. He hated getting up early and putting on a suit. He hated that he had to style his hair perfectly so that it was neat and professional, but also covered his overly large ears. He hated staring in the mirror each morning, tugging a comb through his hair and washing his face, trying desperately to rid himself of the beauty marks that littered his features. 

He stares at himself in the mirror one more time, hands reaching up to grasp a few strands of hair, adjusting them to cover the tips of his ears. He leaves his large apartment, grabbing the keys to his car off of a small little antique table in the front foyer that his mother had made him get when he had bought the apartment.   
His dress shoes make a dull clacking noise against the tile of the apartment building’s lobby as he walked, barely looking at the receptionist who greeted him happily with a ‘Hello Mr. Ren!’ which he promptly ignored. 

He made his way to his car, turning the radio up to blast the classic rock music throughout the car. Anyone walking by would only be able to hear the thud of the bass in the songs. 

Kylo drove to his office building. A small eight floor building that the company rented the third floor of. For a New York building, it wasn’t as elegant as he wishes it could be. But it held his fifteen employees. He didn’t like most of them, boring people they were. They had petty problems. He would have transferred to a better branch years ago, if it weren’t for one person on his payroll. 

“Good morning Mr. Ren.” The security guard says, nodding to him as he enters the building, rolling his eyes when he sees that the elevator is still out of service. He grabs the handle of the door to the stairwell, grumbling quietly as he stomps quickly up the stairs.

His mood only worsens when he notices that his floor is still dark, no one moving about. He unlocks the door, allowing it to slam shut behind him as he flicks on the light, the office being illuminated by the horrible yellow-white lights. He moves to his office, closing the door and sitting at his desk, not bothering to open the blinds before turning on his computer. 

An hour passed quietly, nothing disturbing the peace of the third floor until he heard the door open. A few voices floated over to him, which he recognized easily as some of his workers. He doesn’t look up, doesn’t go out and say hello to them. He never did. 

He does look up however, when Maribeth knocks on his door, peeking her head in with a smile. “Y/N is running late this morning, she messaged our work group chat earlier to say that her car wasn’t starting. Her taxi is stuck in traffic right now but she shouldn’t be too late coming in.”

“Thank you.” He says, dismissing her by looking back down to his computer screen. Maribeth closes his door quietly to leave him be with his work. 

It’s about 45 minutes before you’re in the office, carrying three trays of coffees. You set them down on the reception desk, looking over everyone with a smile. “Good morning!” You say happily “Sorry for running so late!”

You Start taking each coffee cup out of the trays, reading the small acronyms on the tops of them before giving them to their corresponding person. Each time you set one down on the desk, you’re greeted with a ‘thank you’. You tell each of them that it’s really no worry, and to enjoy it.

You place your own coffee on your desk, turning on your monitor while glancing at the flashing red light on the phone to signal that you have messages that need to be listened to. You sigh, taking the final coffee – Large, dark roast, one sugar – Into your boss’ office. You knock before entering, making sure to be quiet just in case he was on the phone.   
When you step in, Kylo’s dark eyes move up to see you. “Good morning Y/N” 

“Good morning Mr. Ren.” You say with a smile, voice hitching up an octave. You would probably never get over how handsome he was. “I apologize for being so late, I would have messaged you, but I didn’t know how to get a hold of you.”

You set the coffee down on a coaster on his desk, feeling his gaze on you the entire time. “It’s alright. I understand your morning. No phone calls have come th-“  
The phone cuts him off, and you grab it quickly to answer it. “First Order Paper Co. Y/N speaking, how can I help you?” You say into the phone, keeping your voice steady as you spoke to one of your smaller clients. 

You put them on hold, dialing one of the extensions to the accounting department, asking them to pick up line one. You hang up the phone, looking to Kylo with a smile. He had been watching you throughout the conversation, seeing how even on a bad morning, you were still glowing with happiness. He was fairly sure that you weren’t real. Just a figment of his imagination for the last four years that you worked for him. But he knew he could never imagine such a beautiful and genuine human. 

“Buzz me if you need anything sir.” You tell him with your signature smile “And please be careful, the coffee is still hot!”

You leave the office, closing the door quietly behind you as you go to your desk, sitting in the old office chair that creaked every time you moved. You set your coffee onto the coaster – you had emailed corporate last year asking for a set of coasters for the office after the custodian started complaining about coffee rings on the desks. 

You pick up the phone, dialling the number to the office’s voicemail. Each one, you wrote down on a memo pad of who had called, what it was regarding, and a call back number. For a few, you wrote who they were for. Two were for Kylo, three for sales, and one for HR. 

When the inbox was cleared of messages, you take each piece of paper that had been torn from the pad, walking around the office to give them to each department with a quick run down of what the messages had said. 

You knock on Kylo’s office door again, coming in and handing him the two pieces of paper. “Corporate wants to set up a meeting with you to have the annual progress report, and Senator Organa wants to know when you would like to go to lunch because you haven’t been returning your emails.”

Kylo takes the memos from you, glancing over them with a sigh. “Call my mother back and tell her I’m busy this week. Tell corporate that I’m available for meetings next Tuesday.” He says, his voice echoing throughout the small office, throughout your bones. 

“Yes sir.” You say, smiling as you go to leave the office.

“Y/N?” He asks, making you stop with your hand on the door handle. 

You turn to see him scribbling on a sticky note. “Yes sir?” You ask, taking your hand off the handle, turning to face him fully.

“This is my cell phone number.” He tells you, holding the yellow paper out to you “I would like you to have it in case you need to contact me again.”

Your cheeks slowly turn pink, your face warm. You step forward, taking it from him, forcing your hands not to shake. 

“Thank you sir.” You say, voice breathy.

“Use it responsibly.” He tells you, his attention returning to his screen. He picks up the phone, dialling a number whole you turned to leave again.   
You return to your desk, spending the days answering the phone and replying to emails. Faxing out papers when needed, or printing off contacts to prepare for new clients coming in this week.

As the work day comes to a close, you say goodbye to everyone who files out of the office with their bags and lunch boxes. When everyone was gone, you began your rounds around the office, checking that each monitor and computer were turned off for the night. You turn close the blinds in each room, flicking off the lights as you go. You close the safe in the back office and go to the thermostat, changing turning the heat off for the night so the office wouldn’t be charged with higher heating bills. 

You return to your desk, pulling on your light pea coat, tying the belt around your waist and grabbing your tote purse, pulling your phone out of the small pocket. 

You dial the number for the taxi company, putting the phone up to your ear as you listen to it ring. You go to voicemail, and you let out a sigh. You try to more taxi companies, one saying that they had no taxis available for at least another hour, the other saying that their bank machines in the cars weren’t working. 

You grumble as you begin to check bus routes on your phone, trying to plan out how long you would have to wait and which two transfers you would have to take and which train you would have to catch to get to your apartment. 

“Y/N?” Kylo asks as he comes out of his office with his coat on, a leather messenger bag resting on his shoulder. You look up, and he’s surprised to see a frustrated frown on your face for the first time since knowing you. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine sir.” You mumble, and he knows immediately that things are in fact, not fine. 

“Do you need a ride?” He asks you, his eyebrow raised slightly as he remembers that you took a taxi to work this morning. 

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. There has to be at least one taxi available in this damn city.” You say, scrolling through your contacts to find a company you hadn’t called yet. 

“Y/N, I’ll give you a ride home.” He tells you, not really giving you an option to decline his offer with the tone that he said it in.

“Are you sure? I live a thirty minute drive away, and it’s rush hour.” You say, thinking about how long you would be in the car with your boss. 

“Yes, I’m sure. I don’t mind the drive as long as I know you get home safe.” He says, pulling his keys out of his pocket and walking towards the door, glancing over to you to see if you were following. 

You hold the strap of your purse tighter, following him out the door, making sure that the door was locked behind you while you follow him down the ugly linoleum tiled stairs.  
The night air was cold against your face when you stepped outside, waving goodbye to the security guard who was preparing for his final rounds before leaving to go home. 

Kylo tries not to look at you when the wind goes, blowing your hair wildly around your face while you jog to keep up with the tall man. 

He stops at a black Audi, unlocking the door and tossing his bag into the back seat before opening the drivers door to get in. You follow suit, setting your purse at your feet as you put on your seatbelt, turning slightly so your body was leaning towards him rather than being parallel to the front. 

You take in the man beside you, watching him put on his seatbelt and putting the keys in the ignition, turning them and letting the car hum to life. 

He has a strong profile, nose fairly straight despite how large it was. You could see a small bump on it, showing that it might have been broken once or twice in his life. His hair his most of his features from you, but you knew his face like you knew the back of your hand. He was handsome. 

You remembered having your job interview with him. You had been a stuttering, blushing mess while you answered his questions. He had been fairly quiet, taking notes about your answers before hiring you on the spot.

You were sure you were going to relapse into that reaction during the time in the car with him. He looks over to you, his arm going out so he could put his hand on the back of your seat, his head turning so he could see properly and back out of the parking space.

You look down, pretending you hadn’t just been staring at him like a love sick puppy.

“So, where is your house?” He asks, stopping the car before he pulled out onto the street.

“Go Left.” You instruct.


	2. Elevator

The car was warm compared to the cool wind outside. You heard the whistle of the wind as Kylo sped up the car, trying to miss the yellow light turning red. The quiet guitar line of Black Sabbath played throughout the car, the bass occasionally picking up to thud in your ears. 

Kylo’s fingers tapped against the steering wheel, his lips opening to mouth the words that he knew off by heart. You couldn’t help but watch him with a small smile. He was so much different when he left the office. His hair was falling around his face in slightly gelled clumps, eyes lighter under the natural lighting. 

Kylo comes to a stop, letting out a small sigh as he sees the stopped traffic ahead of him. He reaches down, his hand shoving itself into the pocket of his trousers. He wiggles his phone out, the leather case sticking to the fabric. He holds it towards you, foot pressing down on the pedal slightly to move forward with the traffic. 

“Can you check which is the best way out of this?” He asks you, his eyes meeting yours for a moment. You nod, taking the black phone from him, pressing the home button to light up the screen. 

There was a dog as the background, a pretty Doberman mix if you were guessing properly. You smile at the dog, seeing the floppy ears – meaning that Kylo hadn’t taped or cropped them. You press the button again, the number screen coming up, asking you for the code.

“What’s the password?” You ask, looking over to him. “Do you have the thumbprint?”

He glances over, shaking his head. “8-7-3-4-2-9” He says easily, pausing for a moment between each number so you could type it. The screen disappears, leaving you to stare for a moment too long at the text conversation he had open. The moment you realized what was happening, you got out of it, your cheeks heating up with embarrassment. You slide your finger across the screen, pretending you hadn’t just read something so…not safe for work. You find google maps, opening it quickly and allowing the GPS to calibrate properly before you searched along the red lined route. 

“When we get up to Smithson, turn right and then go straight until Wood road and then turn left.” You announce, returning to the route you were currently on, seeing that the traffic was due to an accident and construction. All on a main road in rush hour. 

Kylo nods, the car moving ever so slowly through the street. He presses one of the buttons on the dashboard, changing the station when a commercial comes on. “I hate that commercial.” He grumbles to you, as if he needed a reason to change the station. “You can pick a station if you want.”

“There’s no station that plays what I like.” You say honestly, glancing over to him.

He nods, turning on the turn signal to switch lanes. It’s slow, but eventually a lady in a Ford lets him into the lane. You find yourself turning on Kylo’s phone again, looking at the picture of the dog. Kylo looks over to you, smiling slightly when he sees you examining his dog.

“His name is Vade.” He tells you, he sees your lips turn upwards.

“How old is he?” you ask, looking over to him, eyes shining.

You question him about Vade, learning he was five years old, he was an abandoned dog, Kylo found him on the side of the road a few years ago. You loved Vade. You hadn’t met him, but you loved all dogs.   
When Kylo finally got the car out of traffic, you tell him the changed route directions. The city flew by you in a blur, the music playing quietly with Kylo returning to tapping his fingers and nodding along. 

“If you turn here, you can enter the parking garage from the back.” You tell him. 

Kylo makes a swift turn, following your instructions. 

“I live on the eighth floor, but you can park on this first floor since you’re a guest and you’re just dropping me off” You tell him.

Kylo stops the car in the parking space, putting the car into park as he looks over to you once more. You were picking up your bag, rummaging through it slightly to grab the keys that were at the bottom of it. Your fingers reach down, unclasping the seatbelt. You guide it across your body, sighing as you reach for the door handle, opening the door with ease. 

You look at your boss, giving a smile to him. “Thank you for the ride sir.” You say, and Kylo chuckles.

“Please, outside of work, call me Kylo.” He insists, reaching over and placing his hand over yours, squeezing gently before pulling it away. 

“Okay… Kylo.” You say, testing it on your tongue. “Thank you for the ride. I appreciate it.”

He nods, his hair moving around his face. “Have a good night Y/N.” 

“You too.” You say, waving at him as you get out of the car, hoisting the bag up on your shoulder. You close the door, beginning to walk away. 

You couldn’t believe how different Kylo was outside of work. How… human he was. He didn’t seem like the same person that you called your boss. You got to the door of the garage, before you turned, seeing Kylo’s car still there. You walk over, heart being quickly as you knock on his window, seeing him typing something on his phone. 

He looks up, seeing you stand there with pink cheeks. He presses down a button to roll the window down. “Yes?” He asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“Do you… Well um. Do you want to come in for a coffee?” You ask shyly “Just until rush hour is over so you’re not waiting in traffic for another hour or two. You don’t have to of course, I was just thinking that it would be a better pass of time than just sitting in the car and –“

Kylo tells you with a chuckle, cutting off your slew of words. “I’d love to come in for a coffee.”

You grin, watching him shut off the car, pulling the keys out of the ignition before stepping out of the car. He stands up to his full height, you looking up at him. 

You start to walk to again to the door that led to the apartment building. He follows you closely, close enough that he could smell the pomegranate shampoo again. 

He glances around as you open the security door to the lobby. There was no reception desk here, unlike his apartment building. No annoying greeter that was searching for the richest bachelor in the building. The entire foyer was a dull beige, the walls looking as if the room had seen a lot of smokers throughout it’s life. The floor beneath him was a faded linoleum, some of the tiles showing age by the air bubbles underneath them, a few tiles were torn and were missing the corners, revealing the yellow substance under the tiles that held them to the wood. 

You stepped aside when you got the door open, apologizing quietly because the lock often got stuck. He grabs the door, letting you duck under his arm and into the lobby, which smelt heavily of must. Kylo sniffs slightly, reaching up to rub his nose against his suit jacket. 

You jingle your keys as you try to find the one for your mailbox, finally putting it into the slot, you turn the key, your college lanyard dangling as you reach in to grab the mail from the box. You sift through it quickly, tossing the flyers into the trash can that the building supplied. You close your mailbox once more, turning to Kylo with a smile. 

You guide him to the elevator, pressing the button to go up. 

“You can go down here?” He asks, eyebrow quirked. 

“Yeah, it’s a gym downstairs. No one really uses it though – maintenance pretends it doesn’t exist so everything is usually greasy.” You say with a small shrug, hearing the ding from the elevator as the doors slid open. 

You step into the small space, waiting until Kylo was in the box with you before pressing the “8” button. It lights up, the doors closing slowly. They hesitated before fulling latching shut, and the elevator jolts slightly as it begins its upward motion. 

You stumble slightly, Kylo’s hand darting out to grab onto your arm. You look up, cheeks flushed pink from embarrassment. What kind of idiot stumbles in an elevator? You think, huffing to yourself. You glance up to Kylo, whispering a small thank you. 

You end up shuffling closer to him when two teenage girls come into the elevator from the third floor, and Kylo wraps his fingers around your bicep to keep you steady as the elevator lurched into motion once more. You smile slightly, your back to his chest as you got closer to your floor. His hand never left your arm. 

The girls beside you were laughing about something on their phone, some boy on a dating app from what you could gather. 

When the door opened to your floor, you step forward, glancing back to the man behind you. He gives you a smile, gesturing for you to keep walking. He keeps in line with you, taking ques from your body on where to go. 

You turn right at the end of the hallway, walking along the carpeted floor and yellowed wallpaper, stopping at a metal door with peeling blue paint. 

Your fingers fumble with the keys, getting the door unlocked and opening it, stepping in and looking back to Kylo with a smile. He follows you into the small apartment, watching as you removed your coat, opening a small closet and pulling out a hanger to hang it up.

“Coffee or tea?” You ask him as you kick off your shoes into the closet, closing it quickly and turning on your toes, walking down the small hall to the kitchen. 

“Coffee!” he calls as he bends down, untying his shoes. He slips them off, setting them on the small greeting mat at the door. He removes his jacket as he follows your trail to the kitchen, finding you at the counter. 

On, would be the better word. When Kylo came closer, he noticed which exact position you were in. Your arm was outstretched above you, bum sticking out while you knelt on your knees, the counter cold against your clothed knees. 

“Do you need help?” Kylo asks, coming to stand beside you. 

“Maybe a help down?” You respond, looking over at him with a small, shy smile. 

Kylo nods, moving to stand behind you, hands raised. He stares, movements paused for a few moments as he figures where to put his hands. He holds his breath as his hands rest on your waist, lifting your bodyweight slightly before pulling you towards him. You stretch out your legs, feet touching the floor once more. 

You can’t help but lean against Kylo for a moment, pretending to regain your balance on your feet. “Thank you.” You say quietly, stepping away from his body and moving to the other side of the sink to the Keurig. 

You put the pod in, pressing the button to heat it up while grabbing a mug from the cupboard above you, placing it easily on the little platform for the mug. You look over to Kylo with a smile.

“Do you want to stay for dinner? Or just draw this coffee out long enough for the traffic to fade?” You ask him, the coffee beginning to be made behind you with a loud gurgle of water. 

“I wouldn’t mind having dinner with you.” He says softly, looking at you with something in his eye that you couldn’t place. 

You look away with a smile “Chicken and pasta sound good?” You offer, you see his nod out of the corner of your eye, and you nod as well, taking the mug of coffee and handing it to him “Sugar is behind you in the little bowl, spoons in the first drawer beside the fridge.”

Kylo finds what he needs while you turn on the kettle, beginning to boil the water for your tea. You move past him, grabbing another mug begore going into the fridge to pull something out for dinner.

“You can eat chicken, right?” You ask, glancing over to him. The sound of the spoon hitting the walls of the mug ringing out between you.

“Yes.” He nods, catching your eye for a moment before looking down to his coffee and pulling the spoon out, holding it up for a moment to see where he could put it.

You reach over, taking it and setting it beside the sink. Kylo nods, leaning against the counter, mug in hands as he brings it up to his lips to blow air on it for a moment.

You can feel Kylo’s gaze as you move around the kitchen, preparing everything to be cooked in a few minutes. The cast iron skillet was heavy in your hands, and he almost jumped over to help when he noticed you fumble with it – he was sure if it dropped, it would damage your floor. That’s really the last thing your apartment needed, another thing damaged to bring down the value even further. 

You set it on the yellow stained white stove, hearing the kettle pop, you turn. You grab the mug and set it with the kettle, opening a drawer that Kylo raised an eyebrow at. 

It was lined with colourful teabags. Each set of bags was lined perfectly in a rainbow, as if you had stood there for hours making sure everything was a perfect gradient from white to dark purple. Kylo smiles at the thought. He wouldn’t put it past you. 

You picked one from the blue gradient, ripping open the cover, taking out the small teabag to set it in the mug, wrapping the string around the handle twice so the water wouldn’t pull it in when you poured it. 

You toss the wrapper into the trash bin under your sink, picking up the burning mug and setting it on the small island where Kylo sat. 

Silence fell comfortably between you, creating a small barrier that neither of you wanted to break in fear of something wrong being said. Your fingers were wrapped around the steaming mug, matching the position Kylo was resting in. 

“So.” Kylo begins, turning his body on the stool towards yours. “What do you do when you’re not at work?” 

You glance over, releasing a small shrug. “I hate to say it, but I’m a horribly boring person.” You say with a smile. “I don’t do much. I cook – I’ve been going through Chrissy Teigan’s cookbook recently. And I read a lot. I go to the lounge on Sundays to listen to their acoustic performances. But honestly, other than that, I don’t do much.”

Kylo nods, fitting each event in with your personality. “A homebody.” He comments. “Me too.”

You glance over at him again, lifting your mug to blow gently on the hot tea. “I wouldn’t assume so.” You comment. “You seem like you would do interesting things.”

“I really don’t.” He laughs – that’s a sound you’d love to hear again. “I take Vade out on runs in the evening. I go to work on weekdays. And I avoid my mother’s emails on a daily.”

“That can’t be all you do though.” You comment. “Don’t you have a girlfriend? Or friends to hang out with?”

“No.” He shakes his head, and your mind thinks back to the sexts you saw on his phone. 

“oh.” You say quietly, falling back into the silence. Both of you drinking your beverages quietly before the clock on your stove turned to six o’clock. 

You stand from the stool, walking to the small sitting area you had set up. Kylo watches you as you bend and grab the remote from where it fell between the couch cushions. You turn the small television on, changing the channel you had left it on the night before to the channel that hosted the nightly news.   
The news theme rang out, filling the silence of the apartment as you wandered back into the kitchen to begin on making dinner. 

“Do you need help?” Kylo asks, standing up and coming to stand beside you at the counter where you opened the packaging for the chicken, awkwardly leaning over you.

“I don’t, but I wouldn’t mind the help.” You respond. “Can you trim the chicken?”

Kylo nods, taking it from you as you grab a cutting board and a knife for him and yourself. You slide behind him to the fridge, grabbing some fresh herbs and some garlic to cut up.

The scene you were in felt so domestic, standing side by side while you made dinner together. His hand seemed too large for your small knives, but he made do. You couldn’t help but glance over at his arms as the muscles bulged under his dress shirt. The veins in his hands rising slightly against his skin with the small calculated movements. 

He sets the chicken in a small bowl you had put seasoning in, and he makes sure its coated nicely before following your instructions to put it in the skillet with some oil. 

He did as you asked, finally turning off the stove when everything was said and done. You plated the food, Kylo taking it over to the island while you grabbed two glasses to fill with a spirit and half a can of soda. 

Once the ice was in the glasses, you set one in front of Kylo, hopping up onto the stool beside him. You reach for one of the spare remotes that was in a little basket on the island, swivelling to the side to turn the television on, turning it over to some entertainment show. 

There was silence while you ate, other than a few comments on how good of a recipe dinner was. Kylo finished first, standing and setting his dishes in the sink, rinsing them off politely. 

He looks over to you, right as you’re finishing the last few bites of your food. You follow his previous motions, rinsing off your own dishes before looking up at your boss, his hip leaning against your faded and worn out counter. 

His eyes were dark in the artificial light, hair falling from it’s stylized format from the morning. “Y/n.” He says quietly, his eyes taking in your face. 

“Yes?” You ask, still trying to keep some form of professionalism despite not being in the office.   
“Would it be wrong to kiss you?” He asks, his heart hammering in his chest. 

“It would be if we were in the office.” You say quietly, already leaning towards him.

**Author's Note:**

> Find more of my writing on tumblr @rosalynbair


End file.
